The Philippines
- Created by: keeels
- Created on: 07-05-14 19:55
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- The Philippines
- The Philippines is a group of islands in south-east Asian with a vulnerable population at risk from a variety of hazards.
- Volcanoes
- The Philippines is near to a destructive plate boundary where the Philippine plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate
- The islands were formed by a combination of folding at the boundary and volcanoes formed from magma that has risen to the surface from the mantle below
- Mount Pinatubo is a volcano that erupted in 1991. Many people were evacuated , buildings collapsed, crops were destroyed and agricultural land was ruined by falling ash
- Earthquakes
- The Philippines plate and the Eurasian plate can become locked together as one moves under the other. This causes pressure to build up. When the pressure is too much the plates jerk past each other, causing an earthquake.
- Earthquakes also occur at fault lines in the area, where the plate has cracked under pressure
- Earthquakes occur daily, but most can't be felt (they're low on the Richter scale)
- An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 occurred on Luzon island in 1990, killing over 1500 people
- Typhoons
- The Philippines have around 10 typhoons (tropical cyclones) every year
- They develop in the Pacific Ocean and move westwards over the islands
- Typhoon Xangsane swept across Manila and the surrounding densely populated area in the North in 2006. High winds and torrential rain destroyed homes and caused flooding , landslides and the loss of power and water
- yphoon Haiyan,was one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, which devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, on November 8, 2013
- Climate change to make typhoons more common, and more powerful. At 20 a year and potentially 2 super-typhoons (something unheard of 10 years ago)
- yphoon Haiyan,was one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, which devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, on November 8, 2013
- Tsunamis
- Earthquakes in any of the oceans surrounding the Philippines could cause a tsunami
- In 1976 an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 caused a tsunami that hit the coastline around the Moro Gulf on the southern island of Mindanao. Thousands were killed and several cities were devastated
- Droughts
- Some parts of the Philippines have a distinct wet and dry seasons, e.g Manila (and the surrounding densely populated area) is dry between November and April, and wet between May and October
- Droughts can occur when the wet season hasn't brought enough rain to last the dry season, or the dry season is particularly harsh
- There was a drought on Luzon island in 2005. The reduction in rainfall decreased water flow in rivers, which affected power production from hydroelectic power plants. This affected to the power supply to the entire region. Without power for an extended period, economic and social activity were severely reduced
- Flooding
- During the wet season, floods can be caused by typhoons and heavy rain
- Flooding affects many areas, even some that are also affected by drought
- Major floods occurred in the low-land areas around Manila in the 1970s and in recent years. Crops were devastated in this major rice growing region
- Vulnerable population
- When a hazard strikes a densely populated area, there's a greater risk it will become a disaster, e.g the island of Luzon and the area around Manila are more at risk because they have a high population density
- Population pressures have led to deforestation of upland areas for agriculture. This increases the risk of landslides in populated areas.
- The Philippines has a fast growing economy, but there are still many people below the poverty line who will be most severely affected by a disaster
- Some fast growing settlements have been built near to hazardous areas, e.g Angeles was built near to Mount Pinatubo. It wasn't thought of as a threat because it hasn't erupted for a long time (since 1340)
- Many people live in in unstable locations, e.g the Aeta tribe were living on the slopes of Mount Pinatubo when it erupted in 1991
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